LA LA LAND

1. Case Study: LA LA LAND.
Introduction:
La La Land
A teaser trailer released in July had Ryan Gosling singing "City of Stars." A follow-up featured
Emma Stone crooning at an audition. It seems to be working: 98 percent of tweets about the film
have been positive, according to comScore.
Fences
The first trailer for the August Wilson adaptation starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis,
released in September, sparked as much social media conversation as Marvel's Doctor Strange,
according to comScore.
La La Land, the new movie from writer/director Damien Chazelle (Whiplash) and starring the
ridiculously good-looking pair of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.
La La Land is a love story but it’s also a completely original musical. Stone plays Mia, an actress
who’s struggling to secure her big break. One day she meets Sebastian (Gosling), a piano player
who gets by playing in bars but dreams of opening a jazz club of his own. The two bump into each
other several times and finally form a romantic relationship. But that love affair is threatened when
their careers actually start to take off and the struggles that brought them together now threaten
what has been a magical romance.
“Charming” is a word that’s hard not to use when describing this campaign. Everything here is
designed to charm the audience, from the relationship between Mia and Sebastian to the plucky,
upbeat music and the audacious dance sequences that are on display throughout the push. It’s all
designed to seem completely unironic and sincere, sold as an antidote to the cynical world around
us and the upsetting news we see almost daily. It just wants us to smile and enjoy the singing and
dancing.
1. The issues raised by media ownership and funding in contemporary media practice.
 Chazzelle talked extensively here about the long and sometimes tortured path the
movie took to production as it was put into turnaround, had actors sign on and then
drop out and ultimately just faced the challenge of being an original musical. Also
covered is the working relationship between Stone and Gosling, since this is their
third time out together inside of five years.
 Ryan Gosling plays the whitesplainer in question, troubled jazz musician Seb. You
know the type —furrowed brow, mustachioed, lives in Brooklyn? Refinery29's own
Anne Cohen pointed out that Gosling's frantic Seb is a manic pixie dream boy, a
reverse-gendered version of an already tired trope. Rostam argues that Seb is
problematic in other ways. Namely, that he's a white "expert" on jazz music, an art
form that emerged from the Black community.
 The musician, a record producer and songwriter, launched his critique on Twitter by

2. pointing out that La La Land doesn't feature any LGBTQ characters. "La La Land
didn't have a single gay person in it #notmylosangeles," he tweeted. He continued his
argument by pointing out the lack of diversity in the film. La La Land uses jazz as a
focal point, but it doesn't pay homage to Black culture or creators.
 Another tweet reads: "Black people invented jazz but now we need a white man to
come save/preserve it? sorry this narrative doesn't work for me in 2016." And sure,
John Legend is in the a film, a lone Black character. But he's not really there as a jazz
expert, Rostam explains.
 Rostam isn't the first to criticize the well-loved movie — The New Yorker published
two reviews of the film, one adoring, the other scathing. Richard Brody, he of the
scathing review, also doesn't care for director Damien Chazelle's portrayal of jazz
culture. When Emma Stone's character Mia claims she hates jazz, Seb gives what
Brody calls a "mansplanation in response." Brody writes, "Seb launches into his
elaborate mansplanation of the origins and merits of jazz, talking volubly and
inexhaustibly over the music he loves as if it were nothing but the local background
station."
 Both Brody and Rostam have pointed out that the film seems to reduce jazz to a pop
culture trinket, a fun fact for the characters to toy with. Brody also points out,
"Chazelle doesn’t care enough about the life of musicians, or the life of art, to put that
work into personal or historical context." So the movie pays homage to the past. But
it ignores the history that matters.
 Director Barry Jenkins said he was "speechless" after his movie "Moonlight" was announced
as the winner of best picture on Sunday night, following an unprecedented moment in Oscars
history. And he wasn't the only one. "Is that the craziest Oscar moment of all time?" Emma
Stone, winner for best actress, asked backstage. "We made history tonight."
But what exactly happened that led to that now-infamous moment where "La La Land" was
mistakenly announced as best picture at the Academy Awards?
2. The importance of cross-media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and
marketing.
two or more different media platformswork togetherto use an idea that can be promoted but that
benefits allof them, allproducts are released at thesame time
- thisis when two or more companies work togetherto produce,distributeor exhibit a film,it could
also be used to help market thefilm with thecombinationof themusic industry and film industry
for a sound track.
media convergence
- thecombining of two or more mediums
- mediaconvergence in the filmindustry can happenin production,distributionorexhibiton
- For example, it happens when themusic industry comes togtherwith thefilm industry
these multipleofmedia convergenceare leading us towards a digitalrenaissance,a transition and
transformation perios that willaffect all aspects ofour lives.
The Posters
 The first poster is kind of great. Designed to look like a record cover from the early
1940s or so, it shows Stone and Gosling in a passionate embrace while in one of the
vertical stripes next to them you see the L.A. Observatory, an easy way to establish

3. the location of the story. At the top along with the actor’s names is a call-out about
the key song (which we’ll see is also in the first trailer), enhancing the LP artwork feel
of the one-sheet.
 A second poster was just as good and also looks like something you found in your
mom’s record collection. This one shows Gosling and Stone walking across a room,
both decked out in nice outfits, the picture tinged heavily with a blue that stripes
across the neutral background that’s seen at the top and the bottom. Even the rating
and the “In Theaters” copy at the bottom looks like what on a record would say “In
Stereo” or something.
 A special poster for the movie’s appearance at the Venice Film Festival was also
released. It’s not as interesting thematically as the first two but still sells the overall
appeal of the movie pretty well, showing Gosling and Stone dancing on a hill top, the
lights of Los Angeles below a dark night’s sky. “Here’s to the fools who dream” the
copy at the top tells us.
 The theatrical poster foregoes the artistic stylings of the earlier one-sheets in favor of
a simple image of Gosling and Stone, shown from behind while staring out over the
nighttime skyline of Los Angeles. Or at least it would be a simple image if it weren’t
for the fact that all the negative space on the poster is taken up by accolades from
critics, turning what should have continued the magical look and feel of the poster
campaign into a cluttered mess.
The Trailers
 The first trailer is all about setting the mood for the movie while revealing as little as
possible about the story. Essentially a short music video, we get lots of shots of
Gosling and Stone as the dance around each other, gaze across rooms at each
other and otherwise engage in this storybook romance. So they’re at nightclubs,
dancing in the streets and more.
 Again, there’s not much about the story on display here but it’s still pretty great. It
definitely establishes the setting of Los Angeles, presenting it as a place where
literally anything can happen, most of it magical and romantic. The time period here
is kind of iffy as we’re shown modern cars but a vibe that’s definitely more out of the
1940s or 50s than the 21st century. That’s not a bad thing, it’s part of the movie’s
charm, it seems.
 Another trailer came out a bit later that took the same approach but this time
featured Stone singing about the mess they’ve made, with the same kind of shots
that present a version of Los Angeles that seems to exist in all time periods, from the
1940s to the present, at the same time.
 The official trailer starts off at a disappointing audition Mia is at, but we soon see her
wandering into the piano bar Sebastian plays at. The two catch each other’s eyes
just as we see him get fired and we’re off to the races. What follows is lots of them
walking around and talking in the cutest way possible interspersed with shots of
them dancing. There are scenes of them struggling with their careers, him going
toward opening his own club, she trying to be an actress. More dancing, more
walking around L.A. and it all ends in a big musical number, of course.
 It works really hard to be just as charming and magical as the first couple spots while
also adding more of the story into the mix. That comes through very well without
getting in the way of the sweepingly epic scope the movie is trying to take with this
very intimate story. Gosling and Stone has loads of chemistry (they should at this
point, having worked together so often) and that really comes through here, helping
sell the whole package.
Premiere
 That premiere at Venice came off very well, earning the movie plenty of buzz and
positive word of mouth. While there Chazzelle talked about why he’s so attracted to
musicals, Stone talked about the story’s overt hopefulness and joy and more. The

4. music continued to be a focus of the press, with composer Justin Hurwitz talking
about creating the music that was so central to the story.
 The movie was also among those selected for the Telluride Film Festival. Everyone
came out of Toronto even more in love with the movie than they were already,
culminating with Stone winning an award for her performance in the film.
The entire campaign is meant to evoke a timeless nature. The throwback images that were
used in early posters and the way the trailers make you think the movie could take place
this year or in 1961 all creates a sense that the story exists out of time to some extent,
reinforcing the slight nostalgia-esque approach to the marketing. Add to all that the almost
universally positive word of mouth that’s resulted from festival screenings and the love the
soundtrack has received and you have a campaign that’s…yeah, it’s ridiculously charming.
3. The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences.
Consider theImportance ofTechnologicalConvergence for Institutions and Audiences
Convergent Technology:“Thetechnologythat allowsan audience to consume more than one type
of mediafrom a single platform.” Basicterms: Merging two typesof media into ONE thing
Example: XBOX One- Gaming system, music sound system and DVD playerallin one form of
media.
 -
EXAMPLE: Arri Alexa Arriflex 416 (Used in ’71) - Also compatiblewith thelenses of theother
Arriflex cameras so you a companywouldn’t have to buyother lenses to create thesame
cinematic effect from a much heavier camera byArri Alexa
 CAMERA DEVELOPMENT-
any typeof budget.EXAMPLE: Ta
Labs Anamorphic Adapter(which is a lens speciallymadefor filming on an iphone)

COMPANY EXAMPLE: AttacktheBl
costumes for theirmonsters in theirfilm. (Enhancement byDigitalNegative~computer
programme byAdobethat’seasily accessibleto thepublic)
 MULTI- ompany X-Sens to create Paul
qualityfilming due to the fact that X-
CGI with movements from thecast allowsthe CGI to lookmore realistic https://www.xsens.com/
customer-cases/movie- paul/

in special features.  Can also include exclusive trailers too.EXAMPLE: The Hobbit (2012)(Peter
 n Prime and
- websites and social media.
EXAMPLE: ’71 (2014) Facebook page was created to promote the film- costs the institutions
nothing to do this.

surro
apps that givetheaudiences dealson thecinema also brings in an audience who want to

5. immerse themselves in theexperience of cinema. This makes it more of an event rather than just
watch films and trailers anywhere yougo.
Online and Social
 Video from the trailers plays full-screen when you load the movie’s official website,
which also starts playing some of the music from the soundtrack. That soundtrack is
an important part of the movie’s overall brand with its selection of original music,
which is evident from how there’s a big button encouraging people to buy the album
on either physical or digital media at the bottom of the page. There are graphics
touting the movie’s RottenTomatoes score along with Venice and Toronto festival
wins and a couple of positive critical quotes around the title treatment. There are also
links to the movie’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram profiles.
 The menu of content at the top starts with “Videos,” which is where you can (and
should) watch all three trailers along with featurettes on the production of the movie
and the music in the film. “Synopsis” has a pretty good recap of the story along with
some of the credits for those involved.
 That’s expanded on slightly in the “Cast & Filmmakers” section. There’s not
additional information for the Filmmakers section but in the Cast area when you click
on one of the names a picture of that actor in character comes up. Finally, “Gallery”
has a handful of production stills along with a single behind-the-scenes photo.
Advertising and Cross-Promotions
 I’ll hand it to the TV campaign, it didn’t try to hide much about what had already
made the movie a word-of-mouth superstar. TV spots like this one made it clear it’s
filled with singing and dancing, all of that serving a story of an epic, magical romance
between two struggling entertainers.
 The studio kept those spots coming throughout the last month or so leading up to
release, with each one hitting slightly different notes but all of them selling this as a
big-screen musical romance in the classic tradition but with plenty of modern twists.
There were variations on that theme, but most all sold that basic approach.
 TV spots and trailers were used in social media ads on Twitter and other networks.
Other online ads used the key art or videos to drive ticket sales and outdoor
billboards used the key art or image of Stone and Gosling dancing with the L.A.
cityscape in the background.
Media and Publicity
 A first look photo showing Stone and Gosling mid-dance appeared in EW. The movie
was part of Fox Searchlight’s portion of Fox’s CinemaCon presentation, where the
first footage debuted, which had everyone online oolong and aaaahing as they talked
about the tone and visuals of that footage.
4. The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production,
distribution, marketing and at the point of consumption.
 The color palette of La La Land is vibrant for many reasons, but primarily because the film’s
director Damien Chazelle elected to shoot using film. La La Land’s cinematographer, Linus
Sandgren, was quoted as saying that Chazelle
 “…Wanted the film to be an homage to old Hollywood musicals, and the craft of
filmmaking, and the craft of making music properly with instruments and not on
synthesizers, he felt that the film had to be shot in the scope format, anamorphic, because
he loves anamorphic lenses in general, and scope would fit the film.”
 La La Land was shot in 2.55 CinemaScope, a format that was used prominently throughout
the 1950s before Hollywood converted to the 2.40: 1 aspect ratio you see employed in most

6. films today.
 Chazelle and Sandgren both spoke of their choice to shoot using film as being primarily
motivated by the fact that digital cameras capture reality so well that it becomes difficult to
make a movie look “magical” during editing. Because La La Land was supposed to look much
more magical than realistic, using filmwas a natural choice.
 La La Land was shot predominantly using a Panavision 35mm lens except for the scene
where Mia and Sebastian are watching home movies on a projector, shot with a 16mm
anamorphic lens.
 To accommodate scenes with close zooms, Panavision also built specifically for Chazelle a
40mm anamorphic lens with a 9-inches close-in focus (the 35mm lens used throughout the
rest of the film had a three-feet focus which would have made shooting the film’s more
intimate scenes impractical if not impossible).
 For the camera itself, Chazelle chose to shoot with a Panavision XL2, a camera first released
in 2004 and used as the primary or secondary camera in a number of recent films.
 Shooting using the technology described above allowed Chazelle to do two things. First, the
shallower depth of field that comes with shooting on film allowed him to create areas in
specific frames of the movie that are softer, which by extension allowed him to more quickly
direct the audience's attention to specific portions of particular scenes.
 Additionally, the broader exposure latitude offered by shooting on film allowed for
underexposed and overexposed areas of certain frames to render with more detail and
richer colors than could have otherwise been accomplished by shooting digitally. This more
than anything is what gives the film the “magical” feeling which so many reviewers have
commented on.
 Perseverance is key
 When you’re in the planning stages of a new marketing campaign, how many times
do your ideas simply fester on a page in your notebook? In La La Land, Emma
Stone’s character, Mia Dolan, can’t seem to get a break with her acting career. But
instead of standing on ceremony, she perseveres.
 Most Hollywood stars aren’t born overnight. They keep auditioning and tapping at the
door. Mia’s character quit her job as a barista and wrote her own production. That
gamble paid off.
 Marketing is the same. You need to make your ideas happen. Sure, a social
competition you run might not garner the response you want at first, or perhaps your
enticing email campaign offer for a free car service didn’t have your phone ringing off
the hook. But it’s all about learning from these setbacks, tweaking your campaign
and even taking a few risks. Sometimes a simple alteration to your offer, or sending
your campaign out at a different time of the day can have a huge impact on the
results.
 Colour counts
 La La Land received 14 Oscar nominations. Among these were the awards for
Cinematography and Best Costume Design. Why am I highlighting these in particular
you ask?
 Well, it’s all about the colour. Just take the movie poster of La La Land as an
example. Not only is the skyline in the background sumptuously beautiful, but the
exuberant yellow dress Mia (Emma Stone) is wearing compliments her warmth,
clarity and optimism as a character.

7. 

 Image courtesy of: We Make Movies On Weekends
 When it comes to a marketing campaign, it’s these fine details that really make a big
difference. A fantastic article by Help Scout emphasises this point. Stating that the
‘psychology of colour as it relates to persuasion is one of the most interesting – and
most controversial – aspects of marketing.’
 In particular, they used an example known as the Isolation Effect. It reveals that an
item that ‘stands out like a sore thumb’ is more likely to be remembered. To prove
this, Help Scout tested the effectiveness of different colours on website buttons. By
simply changing the call to action button from green to red, they found that the
conversion rate increased by 21%.
 Taking it back to La La Land, if Damien Chazelle (director) and Mary Zophres
(costume designer) decided to give Emma Stone a different colour dress to wear in
this iconic shot, would the movie be as successful? Maybe so, but maybe not.
 You may think it’s just a small element in the bigger picture, but as a business, it’s
these finer details that’ll make your next marketing campaign stand out from the
crowd.
 Be a chameleon
 Mia and Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) don’t enjoy a happy ending. By making their
dreams come true, they somehow lose each other in the process.
 Bitter sweet you could say. However, the real lesson here is adapting. Marketing
trends change by the hour, and the sign of any successful business are the ones that
adapt.
 An example of this was the article published by Forbes, stating that Twitter
generates 82% of social media leads. Outperforming Facebook and LinkedIn by nine
to one.
 Or more recently, how text messaging was officially announced as the UK’s fastest
growing marketing channel, with 33.67 million consumers opting in to receive SMS
alerts from their favourite brands and businesses.
 The point is, your marketing strategy might not go to plan. But if you move with the
trends and keep your mind open to new things, there’s no reason your business
can’t enjoy a happy ending.
 Which leads me on nicely to my next point…
 Try something different

8.  In La La Land, Mia and Sebastian may achieve their dreams, but they’re just two
shining examples. For every star that makes it, there are dozens of budding stars
hustling and anxiously waiting for their big break. It’s all about going that extra mile
and getting your business recognised.
 For the film itself, Gosling learned how to dance and play the piano. This just goes to
show, despite Gosling’s superior Hollywood status, he wasn’t afraid to give
something else a try. The same principle applies to UK businesses.
5. The significance of the spread of such technologies for institutions and audiences.
 La La Land
 There are many reasons La La Land is one of themost talked about movies of thelast few
months. It looksand sounds absolutelybeautifuland, bearing in mind that this is coming
from my limited knowledgeofcinematography,is technicallyperfect.
 But as we alreadyknow, a large part of the movie’s success – mostmovies’ success –
comes down to marketing.
 The specificelement of La La Land’s marketing I want to draw your attentionto is the
movie’s posters.
o
 It’s not necessary to have any prior interest in musicals in order to enjoy La La Land, but if
you are a fan of classic Hollywoodmusicals you’llenjoyit all themore. It pays homageto
films including Singin’ in theRain, Funny Face, and An American in Paris – a theme that’s
evident throughout themovie’sposters, which feel liketheycouldhave come straight
from the era they’repaying tributeto.
 In otherwords, the movie and its marketing are timeless.
 The lesson
 Create timeless content that never goes out ofstyle.
 How to apply it
 In content marketing, timeless content is also known as “evergreen.” Thisis content that
stays relevant prettymuch permanently (I say “prettymuch” because it’sunlikely anything
will ever berelevant for the rest of time, even if can be described as evergreen).
 That’sbecause very littleis ever going to changeabout writing a case studyfor attracting
high-paying clients– thesame rules willprettymuch always apply.
 The oppositeofevergreen content would be thenews. Whilethere’snothing wrong with
creating content that loses relevancy fast, a great content strategyshould mix both time-
sensitive and evergreen forms of content.
6. The ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider
patterns and trends in audience behavior.
 My own personal experiences of the way in which media is changing vary from the
differences in prices but also in the new technologies in which our generation is throwing at
us. It’s not just in cinemas that we watch films anymore. When films first came out it was
only at the cinema that people could consume film, then in the 1970’s it was widely available
on VHS. VHS was then outdated by DVD and then it became available in HD (high definition)
which has now become outdated by blue-ray. It isn’t just on the big screens of cinema that

9. film is available but also on the big screens at home as televisions are getting bigger, so the
film experience can now be replicated at home. Film has also moved onto the smaller
screens of phones and mp4 players by downloads. Due to this film has to attract its viewers
again by issuing deals for example orange Wednesdays and student Thursdays. Now media
companies are buying rights to show films on their television channels for example film flex
and sky movies. All of this takes away cinemas viewers and can place them in the same
cinema situations at home. Marketing of films has also changed our experience as we can
almost be brain washed into watching “blockbuster” as they are everywhere, therefore
Warner bros and similar tycoons can almost monopolise the market as smaller film
companies like Shane Meadows can be overshadowed as they cannot afford to market their
films with such authority.

7. The issues raised in the targeting of national and localaudiences by international or global
institutions.
Why did the censor board give a certified “A” certificate to La La Land?
 It seems to me that the CBFC has developed a weird habit of slapping an ‘A’ rating
if they refrain from making any cuts, even for ‘PG-13’ rated movies. (ex: La La
Land, Sully, The Shallows, etc.)
 And yes, it actually may be a good decision.
 The reason for an ‘A’ may be the uncut profanity (one F-bomb each, along with
other smaller profanities) and/or the actual genre of the films as such: Musical /
Drama, Thriler / Drama, Horror / Thriller respectively.
 Another reason could be the trends: if only adults are going to watch a given film, it
is far better to release it with an ‘A’ rating without cuts, which would avoid drawing
flak from the potential audience. This could be partially applicable to La La Land
(Awards Buzz: potential audience would want to watch it in its full glory) and The
Shallows (kinda gory) but Sully could be alright for a family outing. I guess the
distributors may have a say in this case, regarding which rating they would prefer
(as recently, ‘Collateral Beauty’, also rated ‘PG-13’, which has a far more darker
story, received a ‘U/A’ with one cut (undoubtedly the F-bomb)).
 Why did Damien Chanzelle choose to end La La Land the way he did?
 I was at an event 2 weeks ago with Damien Chanzelle and he answered this question. He
said words to the effect that he didn’t want a typical Hollywood ending. This movie is
about LA, the ups and downs, the dreams both dashed and realized. The true grit life of
what it takes to make it in Tinseltown. Think about all the Hollywood relationships that
fail, it’s not usually for lack of trying or lack of love but rather when one pursues a creative
path the commitment required both in terms of time and travel puts a great deal of
pressure on a relationship. What is nice about the La La Land ending is that both Emma’s
character and Ryan’s character succeeded in their professional goals. It is now up to the
viewer to ponder what would have happened if one of them gave up their dream just to
stay together. Would they have lived happily ever after or would resentment have built up
in the one who chose to give up her passion.
La La Land, Reviews
2016 film
5/5Common Sense Media
92%Rotten Tomatoes
8.1/10IMDb
Critic reviews
 For a film that starts with a slightly campy musical number that could alienate viewers just
as easily as charm them, this romance sure makes the leap to greatness quickly.
S. Jhoanna Robledo

10. Common Sense Media
 Audacious, retro, funny and heartfelt, La La Land is the latest great musical for people who
don’t like musicals – and will slap a mile-wide smile across the most miserable of faces.
Ian Freer
Empire
 "La La Land" isn't a masterpiece (and on some level it wants to be). Yet it's an elating
ramble of a movie, ardent and full of feeling, passionate but also exquisitely controlled.
Owen Gleiberman
Variety
 Director Damien Chazelle unleashes an old-school, tour de force musical, proving that
original, Oscar-worthy moviemaking—without R-rated gratuity—is actually still possible in
Tinseltown.
Adam R. Holz
Plugged In
 The real tension in “La La Land” is between ambition and love, and perhaps the most up-to-
date thing about it is the way it explores that ancient conflict.
A. O. Scott
The NYTimes
 Love turns their life into a beautiful song until reality intervenes...
Renuka Vyavahare
Times of India
 To rhapsodize about La La Land is to complete the experience. You want to sing its
praises, literally.
David Edelstein
Vulture
 It’s a film that re-enacts, with rare originality, a classic role for the movie medium—escapist
entertainment in troubled times.
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
 La La Land makes for Damien Chazelle's most technically-accomplished love letter to
music yet, as well as the filmmaker's most poignant work.
Sandy Schaefer
Screen Rant
 The real star in “La La Land” is the movie itself, which pulses and glows like a living thing in
its own right.
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post